


Cosmic Joke

by IntrusiveXero



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-07 21:53:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4279278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntrusiveXero/pseuds/IntrusiveXero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rinoa finds herself on the shore of the Island Closest to Hell, the memory of the battle for time with Ultimecia fresh in her mind, and she finds all of her friends, but no one knows what happened to Squall. They once again go on an epic journey together to try to discern just what happened to their fearless leader. Follow them across time and back, and follow Rinoa as she awakens to even greater Sorceress powers, and the wisdom and emotions they bring</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Closest to Hell

Rinoa awoke on the shore of the Island Closest to Hell, her face in the sand. She jumped to her feet, slow, jolts of pain from ankle to shoulder jutting through like 10,000 needles from a Cactuar. She wondered just how she had made it through the night in such a hellish place. She glanced around and saw a multitude of this world's strongest monsters and demons. Tons of Malboro, Ruby and Blue dragons, ripping into one another with primal fury. There was a great circle of creatures growling and spitting, as if fighting for some scrap of food. She heard the familiar sounds of high calibre sniper bullets, the oh-so-memorable sound of a cracking whip, and battle cries of a crazy man with just too much energy. She knew them well!

"Zell! Quistis! Irvine!" She ran into the din, oblivious to the dangers before her. She loved only these people, her companions had followed her to the lengths of the world, followed her into the blackness of space, and even traveled with her into an unknown dimension of Compressed Time to the dark castle of Utlimecia. 

_Ultimecia_. The thought of her name brought back a flood of emotions and pain that she did not have time to deal with. She ran headlong to save her friends.

"Need a hand guys!?" Zell charged pure energy into his right hand, hues of reds, greens, and blues cascading into a ball of pure energy. "Meteor Barret!!!" he screamed, diving easily thirty feet into the air, and driving down with the force of an atomic blast, a mushroom cloud of fire and earth exploding as his fist met the ground. Demons fell with final death knells, angering their brethren to further fury and bloodlust. A Ruby dragon launched for Zell while he recovered, teeth gnashing, but was met with a crack from Quistis' whip.

"Naughty naughty," she exclaimed, finger wagging to and fro in a mocking gesture. The beast snarled, winding up its limit attack, a nova of magic and fury appearing in its mouth as if from nowhere. Quistis knew the pain that would follow too well, and put up her arms in a blocking gesture, more of an instinct, she knew damn well it would do nothing at all to protect her from the energy wave about to hit her. A flash, a piercing sound, and the dragon was felled. Irvine Kinneas had taken the shot, his days of hesitation long gone, Squall had seen to that. 

"Got your back darlin'," he added with a wink and a thumbs-up gesture. 

"Still the same, eh lover boy? Thank you Irvine."

As if compelled by some unknown force, all the beasts dove at once. The party, seasoned and powerful as they where, had no answer to this sudden danger. They cowered together, huddled into a ball, as if to protect themselves from a hurricane. Useless as the gesture was. Rinoa felt a surge of electricity from her toes to her head, breathed deeply, shifted on her feet like a salsa dancer, and threw her hands to her sides, and all of time had frozen in place. She could see beads of her friends sweat suspended midair, the drool of a Blue dragon glimmering on nothingness like dew on a flower at dawn, and she did not know what had happened. She walked in a circle around the battlefield, the only thing capable of animate motion, and instinct took over. She waved her hands, and purple beams of energy and fire formed into blades, sharp as razors, and stayed where she placed them. She made more and more of them, hundreds of these jagged energy daggers suspended, and she touched her friends. She blinked her eyes, and they where all together, perhaps thirty feet from where they had started, and Rinoa did not understand what had happened. She exhaled the breath, unaware that she had held it all this time, was it even time? She did not know, but as soon as she did, the roar of countless demons resumed, along with a new sound, the piercing, high pitched whir of the energy daggers, and the sound of piercing flesh. Agonized cries echoed the length of the island, and a mountain of bodies was lain before them.

They stared at the heap of flesh in horror, in wonder, in silence for a time that was immeasurable. Zell, as is his typical fashion, was the first to break the silent awe that had struck them like so much lightning from a storm.

"What the fuck just happened? I thought we where dead! And then, we where over here! Anyone care to tell me what just happened?"

"I am very confused." Quistis said, shaking her head, for once being both without an anwer or a whitty retort.

Irvine merely laughed, bemused, "Well, someone out there sure likes us!"

Rinoa maintained silence, her demeanor had become sullen and overcast with shadow.

They all turned, weapons at the ready, to a sound of heavy breathing over a nearby hill. "I know what happened! I saw the whole thing! Well, at least what was important!"

Selphie bounded over the hill, full of energy, her short golden dress tattered and frayed at the edges, her pigtails coming undone on one side revealing bounding curls, boots covered in mud all the way to her knee-line.

"It was Rinoa! I know it was! You all hurtled together, and I couldn't make it in time. I saw a beam of light shoot down from the sky into her! She danced, and moved, and I felt a pressure, like I couldn't move, but I still saw! A wave of purple energy came out of her, and her eyes turned the icy gold color! I swear she had wings for only a moment! She walked around the monsters, but she didn't seem herself. She placed daggers all around them, and then you where over here, and everything was dead!"

"Holy shit!" Zell exclaimed, "Could it be? You're still a Sorceress!"

Before she knew what hit her, her eyes filled with tears, and blackness overcame her. Rinoa fell to the floor. Irvine, with the grace of a thousand wanna-be ladies men before him, swept her off her feet, and gently placed her by the only tree they could see for the entire landscape. Selphie gathered firewood, and Quistis lit a blaze with her eyes. They huddled in together, cacooning Rinoa from the beasts that growled in the distance. The smell of blood had attracted all manner of creature, and Zell was bleeding.

Quistis, ever logical, began to sort things out. "Has anyone seen the Ragnarok? Or for that matter, does anyone know how we got here?

"Your guess's good as mine darlin'. Last I remember, Squall was driven that blade o' his into Ultimecia's heart."

"I remember falling through sky and water! We fought Sorceresses from a thousand different times! I remember Griever, Ultimecia's GF. Oh my god, has anyone tried using a GF?" Selphie stood up, and felt the surge within her, but nothing came. "Where is my Bahamut? Why can't I call him?"

Zell punched the tree with enough force to drop leaves and branches, and Irvine instinctively sheltered Rinoa. "God damn it, where is he?"

No one had to say the name, they all felt the loss of their beloved leader. Why were they all together, but there was no sign of him? They had never been close, per se; Squall was not the type to let anyone in, not even Rinoa after they had professed their love for one another. He could drift through space, give her his last breath from his suit, and hold her as they died together in the blackness and emptiness of space, but really connect? Oh no, not him. And yet, they had come to rely on him. To respect him, to fall in line with him. He was a cold, callous asshole, but one hell of a leader. His detached demeanor allowed him to always make the right decision, even in the thick of battle and stress. Where could he possibly be?

"I remember. He drove the killing blow, like he always did. The final blast of his Renzokuken attack, I think he called it Lionheart? He drove it home, and him and Ultimecia vanished. I remember falling through space, maybe even time. My own memories where a prison for me, and yet they helped me to anchor myself to who I was. I saw myself teaching you guys, before you became SeeD. I saw Squall, fresh from his battle with Seifer, the new scar on his face still dripping the crimson of his dark blood. I saw the missiles hitting Trabia Garden, the mushroom cloud rising into the sky. I remembered Selphie's tears, her sheer determination to survive the silo's self destruct mechanism, to extract revenge for what the Galbadians had done to her home. I remembered the three of us crawling into the shell of a broken tank just in time to survive. And then I saw the shore, here, and I hit my head, and was out cold."

"Damn it Quistis, how can you remember all of that? All I remember is the burning rage I felt! I hated Ultimecia! She was the reason Rinoa became a Sorceress! I thought if I killed her, our friend would be free, ya know!"

"Oh Zell, I think Rinoa was destined to be the Sorceress with or without Ultimecia's consciousness directing her to touch Adel. There was always something... special, about the girl. Even Squall knew it. " They all hung their heads in silence at the mentioning of his name. 

"What'd Mr. Serious get 'imself into this time? There ain't no way he'd die from that, even if she had become the whole darn universe, he's stubborn." Oh Irvine, we hope that your simple way of thinking is right. Your flawed logic has been known to be right from time to time. 

"Totally! He was too tough for that!" Selphie's pigtails bounced as she stated this so matter-of-factly. 

"We know very little for sure guys. We stopped Ultimecia. The universe somehow did not end. Squall is nowhere to be found. Neither is the Ragnarok. We can't summon our GF's, but they must still exist since we have magic junctioned. We are currently trapped here. And Rinoa is both still a Sorceress somehow, and unconscious, and we are trapped here until we either find the Ragnarok, or she wakes up and flies us out of here one by one with those wings of hers. We need to get some sleep. Tomorrow will be rough. We'll take shifts. I'll take the first shift. Everyone file in. "

"Who made you the captain Quistis?"

"Zell, I am the oldest, and I taught our leader everything he knew before he became the man I always knew he could be. Since you have so much energy, I'm waking you for second watch! Understood?" 

Zell punched the earth with enough force to shake the very island they found themselves on, and the sounds of the monsters seemed to draw closer. "Damnit. Where are you?"

They filed in and fell asleep, one by one, shielding Rinoa still. Selphie fell asleep with Irvine, their backs to the tree, and he drew his trench coat around her. No one had really noticed how close they had become. Zell, alone, faced away to the shore, back to Quistis, childishly cursing her name until dreams overtook him. And Quistis stared into the distance, sitting high on a branch of this great elm, a stoic gargoyle in the night sky, watching, waiting. Her stomach was in knots, and she knew more was to come.

"Come on Mr. Hero. Where did you go? She needs you. We all need you."


	2. War of the Moon

Squall was running through emptiness, a void of infinite darkness. He ran and ran, never finding a feature, a landmark, a single thing. This world was no more. He seemed to be the only thing left on this broken plane of existence. Exhausted from the battle with Ultimecia, and from hours of frantically running, he finally collapsed, tired and broken, his will shattered like his memory. He thought deeply, attempting to recount the journey that brought him to this point. Fighting to recall her face, the girl, the Sorceress. He could no longer remember Rinoa's face. He felt himself succumb to the cold sleep of insanity, voices crying out in the infinite darkness, alone, as he had always been. The only thing he'd ever understood. 

He opened his eyes. A beautiful white feather, resplendent in the blackness, drifted slowly to the floor before him. Was it a floor? Did it matter? She was here, at least in spirit, she was thinking of him, calling out to him. 

_I will meet you there. In our special place._

He could feel her. But he could not remember her face. Had he dreamed it all?

_Squall!!!!_

Rinoa awoke, groggy from the dream. She tried to recall if it had actually happened or not. Her thoughts where quickly stirred by the growl of a Behemoth, 

Quistis' struggling, grunting with the sounds of battle, and before she knew it, she was on her feet, rushing in to help.

"You're awake! Glad to see you with us, give me a hand please?" She was holding the beast off with her whip, its teeth only inches from her face. Rinoa shot the Valkyrie, a spinning chakram on a gauntlet, and it arched towards the fiend, cutting its left eye, blinding it partially, but only seeming to aggravate it further. The Behemoth broke through, its horn launching Quistis high into the sky. She landed on her hip, the sounds of bone crushing muffled only by her screams. Rinoa began to chant under her breath. "Flare!" A ball of fire and non-elemental magic flowering on the beasts face, melting the skin where it touched. It grimaced, and whimpered, retreating a few feet to shake off the pain. It stood up on its hind legs, towering over the two girls, easily twelve feet tall. Rinoa put her fingers to her lips and whistled, piercing the otherwise silent night, and Angelo, her trusted companion, appeared as if from no where. The dog sprinted at this mountain of a monster, unafraid, ready to protect his master at all costs. "Angelo cannon!" The dog shot from her Valkyrie gauntlet like a bullet from a gun, exploding on impact, and the Behemoth fell dead where it stood. Angelo, the seemingly magical dog, landed at her feet, and she gave him a treat. As quickly as he had come, he disappeared again with a whimper. 

"You have got to explain that dog shit to me someday! Thanks for your help. I can usually handle them no problem, but I'm a little tired." Quistis pointed Rinoa's eyes in the opposite direction, where lay a mound of dead Behemoths and Ruby dragons. 

"Why didn't you wake anybody up?"

"They will need their rest for tomorrow. I'm only three hours into my shift. It's time to wake Zell for his shift though. He earned it, the naughty boy."

"You have no idea Quistis! Did I ever tell you what Squall and I found in his room!"

"I would imagine a large collection of pornographic magazines?"

"How did you know? Did Squall tell you?"

"No, I just know my boys." She winked, and Rinoa was absolutely terrified. There where things about Quistis she didn't want to know. She looked at Zell as he slumbered as if she wanted to eat him alive where he slept.

"I'll take the next shift Quisty. You get some sleep. I feel much better now, and I have a lot to think about."

"You saw him didn't you."

Rinoa either didn't hear her, or did not wish to dignify the self-evident with a response. Quistis shrugged, and curled up not far from Zell, still eyeballing him like a predator with its target locked in sight. Rinoa wandered to the waves about a hundred yards from the tree, keeping a vigilant eye, yet lost in thought. She took off her shoes, walking barefoot across the sand, and placed her feet in the cool water. _I will meet you there, in our special place_ she had said. She watched the waves lick the shoreline, and felt a peace and a longing at the same time. _What am I? I am still a Sorceress, that's certain. But I thought Ultimecia had taken all Sorceress' powers across time? Did she give me her powers before she died as Adel had done? I don't remember us ever making contact?_ And even more questions spun her mind in circles all through the night. 

Zell woke almost instantly, full of energy to meet the dawn. It didn't matter how much energy he exerted, how far he traveled, or what time he went to bed, he always greeted the dawn with a smile. Surprising for one so often filled to overflowing with rage. He stretched, and was held down slightly. He looked to his side and found Quistis, facing him as she slept, her arm around his waist. "Whaaaaat!" He moved her arm, gently, ensuring not to wake her, and began his morning katas, then it dawned on him. "I slept all night! And Quistis didn't wake me! Where is Rinoa!!!" He woke Irvine and Selphie, quite reluctant to be met with so much energy so early. 

"Where the fuck is Rinoa?!"

"Calm down man, couldn't have gotten far. She was so weak yesterday."

"He's right. I'm sure she got up and looked for some food."

"You guys don't understand! I just woke up! Quistis was supposed to wake me for my shift, and I woke to find her sleeping next to me!"

"Alright stud!"

"No Irvine, I think Rinoa was taken! You wake Quistis, she's scary in the morning. "

He did as Zell said, and Quistis explained Rinoa had woken from a dream and took the next shift, and immediately went back to sleep, but not before taking  
Irvine's trenchcoat and covering her eyes. "Thanks." **zzzzzzzz**

The three of them went to find the lost party member. They found her shoes, and then her footprints. They followed them down the beach for a few hundred yards, and they dissapeared into the water. Next to their abrupt absence was a pile containing her dress, bra, overcoat, and shorts. 

"Looks like we got ourselves a skinny dipper!" Selphie smacked Irvine's arm hard and giggled. It sure did look that way, but she was nowhere to be seen, and the water was clear as the day. Where could she be? 

"I'm going after her guys." Zell immediately began to strip. 

"What the hell are you doing Zell? You perv!"

"What's wrong Selphie? We're all adults 'ere, hahahaha."

"You guys don't get it, she dropped yestederday, and now we can't find her in the water! She may be in danger, and Squall would kill me if he knew I didn't do everything I can to find her! No time to be bashful."

"'Ell, we'll come too. Come on Selphie."

Zell was now fully nude, his rippling, chiseled martial artist body, making him look more like a bronze god than selfish child he was, in the gleaming morning sun. Irvine had dropped his pants and was taking off his shirt, revealing a thin frame, hips that could cut glass, and way more beneath the pants than anyone had expected.

"Holy shit Irvine! Don't trip on that thing!"

"Jealous Zell? You aint packin' no heat like me! You doin' awright with that shotgun, but I always come equipped with a sniper rifle."

"Are you girls done comparing each other's bodies? Let's get in the water!"

Both Zell and Irvine's mouths dropped to the floor as they turned to look. Everyone knew Selphie was really cute, but no one was expecting the breathtaking vision they beheld. Her hair out of pigtails for the first time, so long it cupped the low arc of her hips, her breasts stood firm and supple, her legs long and beautiful with an elegantly sculpted landing strip between them. "Teehee!" She ran straight into the water, giggling as she went, aware of the young men gawking, growing erect at the sight of her. 

"Gittin' in the water!" The three ran, and dove in, suddenly remembering exactly how important their mission before they got sidetracked by their only recently eighteen-year-old hormones. 

They swam and swam, and could find no sign of Rinoa anywhere. After the better part of an hour, the three gave up and went ashore, too tired to have any shame about their nude forms. "Squall is gonna kill me. I lost her damn it." Zell got up and began throwing a flurry of useless punches into the air if only to vent the fear and rage in his own failure. He fell to the floor however as they where all blinded by a flash of the purest white light they had ever seen. "Here I am, no worries."

Their eyes slowly adjusted, and there was Rinoa, naked as the day, walking across the water. Her feet seemed to glide, as if not touching or disturbing the water at all. Her skin was shining, alabaster, light eminating from her as if she held the very sun within her body. Her hair seemed to fly, as if the wind itself answered only to her. She gracefully glided towards them, a shining goddess upon the waves. The glow seemed to fade, slowly, and her feet slowly began to enter the water, until she was wading, like a normal, beautiful, naked eighteen-year-old girl. They could not believe what they had just seen. 

"Hehe, why is everyone nude? I know why I am."

"Where did you go Rinoa! And why are you nude again? We thought you had gone skinny dipping, and we thought you had been attacked by some unknown monster from the depths! We took off our clothes, thinking they would weigh us down in our search."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try us darlin'? We seen a great many weird things traveling with you."

"I just knew somehow I could walk on the water. I was being weighed down by my clothes, so I took them off. And skyclad just seemed better for magical working. I cast a protection seal around you all, I don't know how I knew how too, it's like the spell Protect, but much larger. It goes for a few miles. Look, you can see it refracting the light!"

Sure enough, one could see a light, almost like water in the middle of the open air, glinting as the sun's rays darted across it. Zell threw a rock as hard as he could, and it merely bounced off. He noticed a group of Malboro just outside of the perimeter, snarling, casting Bad Breath in attempts to break through.

"Guys, I think... I'm not human. I mean, we know I've become a Sorceress, but... Even more than that."

"What do you mean honey?"

"Selphie, I think I'm some kind of, I don't know, Goddess. I was on the moon last night!"

"Whaaaat! That's frickin' impossible!"

"I was on the water, about a mile or two out from the shore, and I looked at the moon, and just felt connected to it. I stretched out my arms, and I pictured my spirit, my energy, touching the moon, and it, I don't know how else to say this, began to bleed?"

"Girl, you ain't makin' one bit o' sense."

"It's true! The moon bled, like a white teardrop of itself, and it came out of the sky, and a white light enveloped my body. I remember moving very quickly, like I was flying, and I found myself walking on the moon!"

"How were you able to breathe?"

"I don't know. But I think I can do it again. I think I can get us out of here, tonight."

"We need to get us all some breakfast, wake Quistis, and tell her everything. But first, I think we should all probably put our clothes back on. Hahahaha."

"Damn Zell, I was enjoyin' this!"

They all laughed and put their clothes on.

The boys took the corpses of the slain Behemoths and Blue dragons and began the work of cleaning them and prepping them for cooking. No one was sure if the monsters where edible or not, or would taste good at all for that matter, but they would need all their strength for tonight's excursion. They were getting off this damned island tonight, but to do so, Rinoa would have to use a great deal of her power, and she was certain the barrier protecting them would break. It would be a free-for-all with the monsters that have been salivating, battling each other for first dibs for almost twenty-four hours at this point. The girls woke Quistis and recounted Rinoa's far-fetched tale, and she didn't seem to bat an eyelash. "I'm used to the unexpected from you at this point dear," was the only remark she made. She was also very ill. Selphie tried all of her curative magic on her. Even Esuna didn't seem to work. She was burning up. Beads of sweat fell from her like a waterfall, and she slipped in and out of sleep constantly. Their newly appointed leader was out of commission. 

They ate their fill of Behemoth and Blue dragon. No one wanted to try Malboro, no matter how hungry they may have been. Probably a good idea, one would imagine its poisonous toxins would permeate the meat? Or plant matter? **What the hell exactly is that thing?** Everyone was refreshed, and spent the afternoon having fun, being young. Splashing in the water (they had no shame of seeing one another's bodies after this mornings events) and even at one point stripped Quistis down to bring her to the water in hopes that it would calm the burning fever. Not a one was surprised to find her even more beautiful with clothes off. The only one not having any fun was Rinoa. She seemed almost in a dream, listless, not quite with them. They all knew she was thinking about Squall, but no one would breach that subject. She became so distant, she resembled him a bit. Constantly brooding, deep in thought, keeping to herself. They rested some more in preparation. Selphie took the shift to watch Quistis. Not that they could have done anything for her really, but just to be there. And then night was upon them. 

From the first glint of the light of the moon, Rinoa was on her feet, seeming to join with the moon, beginning the merge. The rest awoke one by one. They silently watched Rinoa in the distance, chanting to herself, no longer a part of the world they were in. _She may have been right, she has become something else._ Selphie had a twinge of fear deep in her stomach, a foreboding of Rinoa's changing character, but she dismissed it. _She's just sad about Squall is all, and becoming more powerful by the second. I can't imagine what that feels like. She didn't ask for any of this..._

"It is time. Everyone, get ready. I won't be able to help you while I'm casting. Be at your best." And with that, she began the spell. They formed a circle around her as best they could. Irvine loaded AP bullets, it seemed many Behemoths lay north, where he was positioned. Quistis did her best to stand, but could only slump on her knees, facing the bulk of the south Ruby dragons. She hoped she could be of any use. Selphie prepared her tri-staff nunchaku, a weapon created for herself. Malboro seemed to be the fate she would face. And Zell swayed to and fro on his feet, doing kata, preparing to pummel Blue dragons to the east. Rinoa's arms raised, and the moon seemed to glow. And with that, the barrier dropped, and the battle had begun. 

It was savage, blood-curdling war. Monster versus man. Magic versus flesh, and vice versa. Zell plowed through the beasts, launching them, pummeling them with his fists. Quistis took heavy damage in the first few moments. She smiled at this. The dumb dragons knew nothing of what they had done. She was in limit break almost immediately, casting micro missile, firebreath, and homing laser ferociously, laying waste to monster after monster, even as she lay on the floor, nearly unmoving. She hit the team with Big Guard, granting everyone high level Barrier and Protect spells, shielding the blows of both magic and physical attacks alike. She held on to White Wind in case they where all nearly dead, lest she heal herself and lose the only edge she had with limit break. 

Selphie smacked Malboros left and right with the giant nunchaku, until a Behemoth had broken through Irvine's line, biting her stomach, leaving a pool of crimson all around her. She began using her slot limit break wildly, casting high level black magic spells in rapid succession, yet unable to control what would come from her next. Pure desperation. She was bleeding out quickly, yet Quistis held off White Wind. If she used it, they may all die. Hard decision, but it had to wait for the final moment. Irvine continued to blast round after round, switching ammo types each time he reloaded to blast different kinds of beasts. Zell was finally bested, a Blue dragon on top of him, ready to bite his face off. Quistis finally began the White Wind spell, but lost consciousness to the fever. A Ruby dragon immediately crawled atop her, biting at her shoulder, the sounds of bone beginning to crunch. Selphie got lucky, and drew the spell The End, laying the immediate threats all to waste in a single flash, a field of flowers, and their sudden deaths, but there where more and more monsters! They just kept on coming! The whole Island closest to Hell had come upon them! If Rinoa didn't get them out of there now, they would either have to kill every putrid creature that has bred here in the past 1000 years, or die trying. Selphie tried again to get the spell going, but she had no control of what came next, and in her frantic searching, she was hit with a King Malboro's Bad Breath attack, leaving her blind, poisoned, paralyzed, and worst of all, mute! Unable to cast any further, or see where she was throwing her nunchaku, she lay down to die, her stomach still bleeding. Irvine was overtaken by a group of Behemoth being led by a single King Behomoth, and was being torn to shreds! Zell dove in to help, but faltered, he couldn't decide which friend to run to, they where all about to die, or be eaten, or worse, and in that moment of hesitation, he was hit with a Blue dragons limit break. It was over. The monsters began to converge on Rinoa. _"If you're going to do it Rinoa, do it NOW!!!!"_

Time stopped, her eyes became that dragon gold color, and blades of purple began to form around all of the beasts. The moon bled, and dripped directly into Rinoa's body. Five beams of light shone down, one for each team member, and in a flash, they shot into the sky, and were gone. Time came back to normal, and all the beasts of the Island Closest to Hell were torn to pieces by blades of shining purple light. They had made it off the island. But was it too late...


	3. Reunion

Edea stared at herself in the mirror. She could harldy remember the woman Matron, the woman she used to be, before she obtained the power of the Sorceress from Ultimecia. The young woman only wanted to help another woman in need. She never could have expected this woman had traveled across space and time to pass her powers on, that she had created a time paradox in the process, looping endlessly into infinity. How could she have known? All she knew was the beautiful lighthouse her husband, Cid, had bought her. The caring dream they shared, to turn this place into an orphanage for the children whose parents died in the Sorceress War, still looming in everyone's memory like a terrible nightmare. She couldn't even sense Squall, trapped in some dimension, screaming, as she touched the hand of the one who held power to destroy them all. 

She sensed something strange, as on the day Ultimecia appeared before her; a kind of magnetism that makes the hair on your skin stand on end. She still had power remaining, though she tried to hide it from everyone. She was still Edea, not Matron. She closed her eyes and projected her consciousness. It was Rinoa she sensed. She needed help, Edea just knew it. She ran from the bathroom, down to the large room that used to house the laughter of children. She unlocked the door and looked at the beds that where once occupied and read the names aloud. Squall, Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Irvine. She prepared all of the beds one by one, and began to boil hot water and mixed herbs, prepared bandages to make poultices. Oh yes, Edea Kramer knew exactly what was coming. 

"Cid, Rinoa and her party are coming. They are badly injured. They will be here in seconds. Follow me."

"Yes my love." Cid was a wise man, having been the Garden master for the better part of twenty years. He had watched Squall grow into a man, had cultivated the other children's talents, had protected them from the ill will of master NORG, and the world at large. He knew well that his wife retained far more power than she let on, and he was at peace with that. His love for her never diminished, even when she had killed President Vinzer Deling, and assumed total dominion over the military nation of Galbadia, even when she launched missiles at his beloved Garden, threatening the lives of hundreds of his children. He knew this was not the woman he married. So he knew to follow her and believe her. "Rinoa."

They stood together in the backyard, arms around one another's waist. Edea had put on the black dress of the Sorceress, the one who came was not now, or ever, fooled about her power. Cid wore his red blazer that reminded them he was once headmaster. They watched as the moon itself bled. There was a loud sound, as if a comet had struck right behind the lighthouse, and there they where. They just simply were where there had been nothing. Quistis, Zell, Selphie, and Irvine. They all lay unconscious, bleeding, broken. Rinoa slowly descended from the sky, white wings encompassing her young form, a glowing Goddess in the moonlight. She landed, and the wings were just simply gone, leaving no trace but a normal eighteen-year-old brunette.

"Edea, I..."

"Hush child, I know. I have seen, and I know what must be done."

The two Sorceresses walked together, side by side, down the path to the beach, and Cid began the work of carrying the others one by one to the beds they knew from childhood. He was aging, but very strong still, and had no problem carrying any of them. He had been quite the adventurer in his own day. He placed each one in turn gently into their respective beds. He had remade them months before, but kept the headboards with their names for nostalgia's sake. He applied the poultices and bandages his wife had prepared for them. Her foresight was amazing. Each wound had its own perfectly tailored bandage, as if she had seen them happen. When his work was done, he stoked a fire in the hearth and closed the door, memories of them sleeping in this same place as children running through his mind. He went back to the garden in the yard, and sat, slowly sipping at a glass of whiskey, watching the two girls twenty feet below on the beach.

"I sense a great power in you, Rinoa. Stronger even than you had before. What has happened?"

"I'm not sure. It all started the other day. We defeated Ultimecia. The Time Compression spell collapsed around us. I felt as if I was being torn apart from within! I watched the worlds separate into a thousand different time periods! I thought the others where dead! As soon as Squall struck the final blow, they all fell over unconscious. Squall simply disappeared! I remember sending him a feather with my magic to lead him back home. I remember a dance at the Garden, and Squall and I sharing our first kiss on the balcony. It was magical. But the next thing I remember is waking up two days ago on the Island Closest to Hell with the group, and no Squall! Where did he go Edea? Did I dream everything? What happened! Edea, wha..." Her words broke off into hot tears which streamed down her face and neck like a waterfall, unstoppable, unquenchable.

"Sh, sh, sh. It's okay, my child. I don't have the answers you seek. I'm sorry. I cannot sense him anywhere. I cannot say for sure whether what you saw was truth or dream. You said Cid and I were there at the Garden for the ball, but I have no memory of this, dear. This is the first we have seen any of you since you entered Compressed Time!"

"How can that be?"

"I do not know. Time is not one of my respective powers. We need to find Ellone for these answers, which means we must go to the magic city of Esthar. But we have quite some time before your friends are capable of making this journey. I suggest you and I train our powers together. With Ultimecia and Adel gone, I no longer fear losing control of mine, so I've only just begun to learn them. And you, my dear, never had the chance with the constant onslaught of your journey and every Sorceress in the universe seeking to control you!"

"There is something else you must know, Edea. Back on the island, I used Time magic. And not just Haste or Slow, more like Time Compression. I stopped an entire hoard of monsters, and I placed energy blades all around them. I teleported all of my friends away from danger, and ended the spell. When time was restored, the beasts exploded into a mass of flesh and death. I was terrified. And I did the same thing again before we left. What does this mean?"

"I do not know child. But this does not bode well. The only two Sorceresses I've ever heard exhibit magic like that is Ellone, and...."

"Ultimecia."

_Ultimecia._


	4. Gauntlet

Edea had given Rinoa a beautiful master bedroom on the far end of the lighthouse, on the second floor. Magnificent furnishings, a king-sized bed, lined with silk and lace, adorned with a hanging veil made of translucent white silk. She had said, "A Sorceress deserves the finest. In the ancient times, we were worshiped as Goddesses. All the world would come to lay at the feet of a new one's coronation ceremony. You may have missed this, but I will make sure you know of comfort." The fireplace roared, but this wasn't the reason for the beads of sweat collecting on her forehead. She lay in this beautiful bed, yet found no peace. She had kicked the blankets off with her feet, and tossed and turned in her white silken nightgown. 

Squall entered the room slowly. They stared at one another, but spoke no words. His eyes burned with fierce intensity as he undid the three large leather belts it took to hold his gunblade and the holster. They dropped to the floor with his boots and pants. He came into the bed, throbbing member at the ready to be received by her. She slowly pulled the shirt over his head, revealing the abs and pectorals she always knew he would have. A gunblade is quite heavy after all, yet he swung it as if it weighed not a pound. He nearly ripped the nightie off of her with no grace, the primal growl of manhood taking over him like an unfed beast, and he threw her down on the bed. In one motion, he was inside, pumping like a man possessed. She lay back, allowing herself to succumb fully to his will, and she began to moan as the pleasure in her stomach grew with each thrust. The intensity grew like a flame being stoked and fed, yet there was no intimacy to it. This seemed wrong somehow. But she was overtaken with the lust, the urge, the passion. His speed increased, and finally he came deep inside of her, sending her body into deep convulsions of pleasure like an earthquake that could only be felt within her own body. She could still feel him inside of her, so she allowed herself to keep her eyes closed to catch her breath from the quakes. Her hands were on his hips, and she felt them shift, from angled and firm, to soft, supple, and silken. She opened her eyes and screamed, but no sound came out! It was now Ultimecia on top of her, her silver hair flowing over the bed, spilling out of the horned headdress, her luscious, milky white breasts falling out of the v cut open crimson dress, her hands large, monstrous claws; and at her lower parts, Squall's own, still hard, throbbing cock. She could not move, and she screamed, and no sound or movement was allowed.

"You are mine darling. You and I are one!"

"Rinoa! Rinoa! Wake up girl!" Edea was shaking her almost violently at this point. "What's wrong!"

Rinoa merely flung herself into Edea's arms and wept. They stayed like that together through the night as everyone else slept peacefully.

It was like this for almost a week. Rinoa's fear of the Ultimecia within continued to grow, as did her power. They trained day and night. Edea's precognition grew and grew, and she could see events coming to pass, and was afraid. Perhaps she could change them if she fostered love in the girl's heart? But she knew better. She had been the Sorceress they all feared, and knew what it was like to have the Black Sorceress inside. Not the same way however. 

Zell was the first on his feet, and he spent his days helping Cid to heal his friends and honing his martial art abilities in the large expanse of woods not far from the lighthouse. He grew in his own form of power, power cut raw from the physical, and he learned to use his chi in ways that no human before him knew. He could project his energy, strengthen his body, move at almost light speed, and he even learned to create doubles of himself with his energy. They couldn't be sustained long, but they could be enough to distract an enemy or take a mortal blow for him. He even learned to alter his own weight and fly. Maybe more like gliding, he couldn't go endlessly of his own power, but he could travel great distances with minimal elevation loss. He wondered just how far he could go before reaching the limits. 

Irvine shortly followed Zell. He spent all his energy on Selphie. He stayed by her bed day and night. "Don' ya die on me girl, not before I tell you how I feel." He quickly took over Cid's job of changing the bandages, tenderly cleaning the wounds on her stomach and chest. The bite did not fester, and she caught no fever, but they wondered if she would ever see again. Bad Breath was a spell they had encountered many times in their journeys, and it was as simple as using an Esuna spell or respective healing items, eye drops for blindness, antidote for poison, echo screen for silence, but that was before. Ever since the Lunar Cry, monsters where greater, more powerful. Their magic seemed useless to the ailments. The poison was simple, the confusion wore off, and the muting seemed to just go away, but the blindness seemed to stick like ink to her eyes. Those beautiful emerald eyes had a blackness around them. Irvine gave her fresh eye drops three times a day, and it never seemed to affect them.

Quistis was the one that was the biggest worry. Her fever never broke, and she still lay unconscious. It had been seven days, and nothing had gotten better, only worse. Zell did not understand the feelings he had for her, had never stopped to even wonder about them. He knew nothing of women, nothing of love. All he ever learned about them was summed up in the stack of magazines back in his room in Balamb. He knew of lust, but never of love. He couldn't bring himself to stay with Quistis, it brought a nauseous feeling to his stomach, and his heart seemed heavy. He continued to train, and to lift his thoughts to meditation. He slowly unfolded himself into a different plane of existence. But at least once a day, some poor tree felt the welling of his emotions, and was rooted no more. 

Rinoa and Edea trained endlessly as well. Rinoa had honed her ability to bend time. Edea would cast a Firaga spell at her, Rinoa would stop time, teleport, and start time, missing the fireball by greater and greater distances. Edea's own black magic had grown to epic proportions, a basic fire spell appearing more like Flare, and her Flare spell large enough to blot out the sun. These two were a force to be reckoned with. But Edea spent more time teaching Rinoa concepts of peace and love. The girl had no time for this. With her nightmares of Ultimecia and Squall getting worse with every passing day, a ball of hatred, pain, and rage had begun within her. She was cold, distant, and limitless in power. Edea feared the worst, but the training continued. Hopefully control would teach her just that, control. Her abilities seemed effortless and limitless. It cost her no energy at all to use spells that would kill a lesser Sorceress. 

"Come with me. It is time for you to learn the origins of the Sorceress. We go to the lost world of Centra."

"I've been all over the Centra continent..."

"But have you learned of its people?"

"What?"

"Long ago, it gained the name of Centra from a great civilization from the stars. They came here, and created life that we know. And were gone as quickly as they came. Come child, there is much to learn about yourself. Lend me your power." They held hands in the air between them, and in a puff of purple smoke where gone. 

Thousands of miles away, nearly across the entire globe, there was another puff of smoke, and they found themselves on a cracked desert wasteland. Rinoa remembered this land well. In the distance, a tower loomed into the clouds overhead, and they were always black here. "This is Odin's tower. We came here and got Tonberry as a Guardian Force. Odin joined us as well, but not like any other GF. He would come of his own accord, slaying beasts almost at a random. When we faced Seifer the final time, Seifer slayed Odin. His sword was added to the collection of Gilgamesh, who took the place of Odin for the rest of our journey."

"So you have met him. He cannot be destroyed however. You can see a light in his chamber even now."

What Edea said was true. Rinoa saw a beacon in the tower where they had met, and defeated, Odin so long ago. 

"How can this be?"

"He is a god, Rinoa. The king of the ancient Centra, and in a way, your father. Follow me to the tower, there is much to discuss, and the monsters have already sensed us."

They walked on, battling Buels and Bombs along the way. They swarmed by the hundreds, but had little chance against two Sorceresses. They came upon the tower with its octohedranal power source near the apex. They entered and walked the familiar hallways and stairs until they came to the statue of the Sorceress and her Knight. No one lived that remembered these people, at least no one who was sharing, until now.

"This is Brunhilda The Great and her Knight Freydis Eriksdottir. They were an amazing couple. She was the greatest Sorceress to ever live, being barely removed from the gods herself."

"From the gods?"

"Yes dear child. Allow me to explain. Odin came here with his people long ago. They brought with them great technologies. There were humans here already, but not like we are today. Less intelligent, less evolved. He gave them civilization, technology, fire. The last remnants of these technologies can be seen only here and in the city of Esthar, though they do not remember the origins. He told legends of other planets he had done the same for, and of warriors he had met. Cloud, Locke, Zidane, a young boy known as the Onion Knight. They preserved legends of these people, and these worlds they had helped shape, if not created. Things were great for centuries. Odin took a bride from the people of this world. Her name was Freya. She was the most beautiful woman. You and I both look much like her in fact. They had a daughter, half god, half human, and they named her Brunhilda. The people simply called her Brun. She was the first Sorceress. So great was her power. Over time, a war broke out. Humans turned against their own creators. These gods could be killed. They were Immortal, only as long as nothing interfered. Humans thought them less divine when one of their own passed away from an attack of Behemoths and Forbidden. Odin turned his back on his own daughter, thinking she had sided with the humans. The gods themselves hunted her to the ends of the world, but the humans protected her. She found herself their Queen. A young warrior, Freydis, ascended to her personal guard, or Sorceress Knight. She granted him power like hers, Sorcery Blade magic, long forgotten. Squall's own Renzokuken was reminiscent of these lost skills. I realized this during our battle when Ultimecia was still controlling me, but the time was not right to tell you. The battle waged for centuries. Freydis was slain by Gilgamesh. He took his blade, the Murasame, as his own, and as far as I've heard has collected the blades of great warriors ever since. 

"Brun became inconsolable. She and her people crossed the sea and founded the magical city of Esthar. Over the centuries, they waged bloody war against the people that were once hers, and the father that turned his back on her. She became the first dark Sorceress. The loss of her love ruined her, turned her into something else entirely.They mined the land, finding a great pillar made of crystal. Brun realized the crystal reacted to the moon, and she created a great weapon similar to Adel's own Lunatic Pandora, and she made the first Lunar Cry happen. All the monsters of the moon flooded our planet like a wave of evil, and the land of Centra was laid to waste. People killed and eaten, cities toppled, technology lost. All that remained were the gods themselves. Brun saw to that. They were hunted to near extinction. The Great Migration happened, Odin sent his people, what was left, back into space with their ships. He created this tower, and the shield, known as Sleipner after his own horse, and he launched a weapon of great power on Esthar. But she was too wise, her foresight showed this years before, and she had created the wall, both capable of hiding an entire city, and sending the weapon, much like our missiles, back on Odin. All of Centra was lost, except this very tower. 

"He waited hundreds of years, and they thought him dead. When she lowered the wall and her own guard, he entered the city disguised as human, and he killed the great Sorceress and Queen. With her last breath, she cursed him to eternity. He would never love, never leave, and always remember his crimes. She prophesied that she would return, and with her love reborn, they would rule the universe together by compressing time itself.

"Now you know your own origins. And Ultimecia's. And now, you must kill me, or die trying."


	5. Betrayal

"Why would I do that? I love you Edea, I would never hurt you!" She pleaded, tears streaming down her face instantly.

"Because my love, there is no other choice. You will never stop searching for him. And your quest is empty and lonely. I have seen your future. And I know your true name Rinoa. You ARE Ultimecia!"

"Noooooo! It's not true!"

"It will come to pass. It cannot be stopped, unless I end it right here. I will kill you."

And with that, the Sorceress War began anew. Edea had barely gotten the words out, and she launched a Thundaga spell at Rinoa. Bolts of lightning struck Rinoa from all sides, scorching her skin and dress alike. She hit the ground hard, unable to react, refusing to fight back. Edea was not so sentimental. 

"Ultima!" Purple energy cascaded, and the ground itself tore around Rinoa. "Flare! Holy! Blizzaga! Meteor!" Fire, white light, icicles, and meteors bombarded Rinoa left and right. She was stripped bare by the force of the barrage. Finally, she rose to her feet. Edea was winded from the blaze of energy she just released. Blood ran from nearly every inch of Rinoa's naked body. "Edea, don't make me."

"Ice shard!" A gleaming spike of frozen crystal formed from Edea's hand, and she let it fly. "I will kill you!"

The ice suspended in midair. Waves of energy and wind surrounded Rinoa, her hair flew in all directions. Her feet no longer touched the earth. The energy surrounding her turned to purple, and a final blast of energy rippled out, revealing Rinoa, now silver haired. Ivy of purple, red, and silver criss-crossed over her flesh, tattooing her from head to toe. And in a flash, the crimson, open-v dress appeared from nowhere, flaring out from her floating feet. She gracefully touched the ground, and lifted her head, revealing her eyes, once brown, now the golden color of a dragon. She blinked, and was feet away from her original position. Time returned, and the ice blades missed their mark. 

"Look at me Edea, Matron. I am born anew! You cannot defeat me. Don't make me kill you."

"So it's true, Ultimecia. I will kill you before it is too late!"

"Fool."

Edea began another blade of ice, and Ultimecia was face to face with her. Time simply slowed, not halted entirely. She wanted her to hear her. Blades of purple energy began to appear in thin air surrounding the women. 

"Know that you made this come to pass my darling. You could have helped me. Instead, you created me. I love you Edea. And now, you die."

Rinoa teleported just out of range, and the blades of purple energy struck true. Edea Kramer, mother Matron, was dead instantly. The blades continued, ripping her flesh, piercing her soul. She fell to the floor, no longer recognizable to anyone. And it was over. A flash of energy came from Rinoa, and she was Ultimecia no more. Except her hair remained silver forevermore. 

"Goodbye Edea." She wept again, this time with no one to console her. The cracked wasteland that was Centra much like her own heart. Once teaming with light and love, now barren and bereft of joy. _Is this how you feel, Squall?_

Lights of every color of the rainbow suddenly sprang from Edea's body, and entered Rinoa's. She felt her power, her knowledge, rushing through her veins. She could see past, present, and future with pristine clarity. "Gotta get me some more of that!" She cocked her lips in a sneer, and walked coolly to the sea, new destination in mind. But first, the loose ends...

Cid sat before the fireplace with a sullen look on his face. "It's just as she said. Edea is dead, and Rinoa has become more powerful. Zell, take Quistis and go. Follow Irvine and Selphie if you know where they have gone. Wherever, just do it now, go fast. She is coming, and we can't stop her."

"Are you sure about this? I mean, it's Rinoa we're talking about here man!"

"Go!" The last word reminded him just how much power the old headmaster could still muster, and he obeyed. Grabbing Quistis on his shoulders, he ran into the woods. He ran as far as he could, and collapsed by a tree. He placed her gently first. He checked her head, and she was burning alive. _I hope Cid is ok_ he thought to himself. Could Rinoa truly be his enemy now? He didn't believe it. But then, he sensed her. The aura was magnificent and malignant. He was easily ten miles from the old lighthouse, and yet, he felt it as soon as it came. 

"My wife told me you would come. Even told me what you would do to me. I'm not afraid Rinoa. Do your worst."

"Cid, I have no intention of harming you. Edea didn't give me a choice, she tried to kill me first. I tried until the last second to change her mind. I never wanted to harm her!" The tears came again rushing over her like a wave. 

Cid held out his arms to her. "Come here child. You're trembling from the cold. Follow me, Edea has laid out a dress for you to wear. You can't just run around naked at your age, you've become a woman." 

He led a shivering, crying Rinoa up three flights of stairs, to the room of he and his wife, or at least, it used to be. On the bed, she found a black dress, tapered at the bottom, as was traditional for a Sorceress, and the headdress Edea wore when she was President, or was it Queen, of Galbadia through force of a coup. Rinoa looked striking in it, and a bit too much like Edea herself. Cid could not handle it. The father in him had led her here to clothe her, but the husband in him would kill her, take sweet revenge for his departed wife. He walked to the mantle of the fireplace and pulled out a special knife she'd had made for him long ago. This knife had the power to kill a Sorceress. It was hand crafted by Dr. Odine himself. He swung, and to his surprise, did not land in her soft flesh. He felt her voice come from behind him as he slowly floated into the air, unable to use his mouth or limbs.

"How dare you offer me solace and succor only to stab me when my back is turned. I cannot be killed by so trifling a thing headmaster, even an Odine brand will falter on me now. Meet your wife on the other side since that is all you wish to do." Cid writhed and wiggled, but could not scream. She had placed the Flare spell directly into his body. Immolating from the inside out, Cid Kramer was no more. She threw his lifeless body to the floor with abandon. The tattoos returned up her body. She could feel them crawl up her skin beneath the Sorceress dress gifted to her by her friend and would-be murderer. The marks would never leave her again. Each piece completing the Ultimecia they were forcing her to become. Or perhaps it was destiny?

Zell looked on from the forest with anxious anticipation. He could not see inside, not even make out Rinoa floating to the lighthouse, but he knew when she arrived. The ten minutes he waited for any sign had seemed like an eternity, but he was glad he did as the lighthouse went up in flames. He knew Cid was no more, and that she was coming. He could feel her creeping closer. 

"Rinoa!!!!"

 _I'm ready to face her,_ he thought to himself, but then he remembered Quistis, feverish and dying by the tree. He couldn't leave her. He frantically looked around for some cave, some place they could hide together. He knew it wouldn't work, she could sense him, perhaps even more than he could sense her. To his great surprise, he beheld an awesome sight not forty yards away. How had he not seen this before? Looming like some great giant from an age long past, there sat a great mechanical dragon, gleaming eyes clear, and he could see the cockpit all ready for him and his dear lady friend.

"The Ragnarok! It must have returned to Edea after we went into Compressed Time!" The race had begun. He ran back to Quistis, still unconscious, and fireman-carried her. He turned to make sure, and there was Rinoa, walking through the flames, untouched, unharmed. She moved slow and unconcerned with him. Why should she be? Is there anywhere he could ever run from her? _I have to try._ And with that, he ran with all his might with Quistis in tow. The old dragon's mouth opened wide to receive them, a feature installed by Laguna when last they had to make a quick getaway and almost died in the time it took to get to the controls and turn the damned thing on. In a moment's time, he was in the captain's seat, Quistis beside him, dead to the world in the co-pilot seat, and the ship was at the ready for them. Another installation of Laguna. He took one more look at Rinoa, and she was not the same. Black dress hugging her form, barely containing her assets, hair silvered by the death of two old friends at her own hands, and a smug sneer upon her face. She raised her hand to the sky, lighthouse beginning to collapse behind her, taking with it all of their childhood memories. 

"Fucking bitch!" He screamed as he jabbed the auto pilot button. And with that, they were off into the night. Balls of fire and light battered the window, but the old dragon held fast, and they were gone. 

"I will find you Zell," she muttered to the wind. "It is not over." And the great ruby dragon, Ragnarok, disappeared into the night sky.


End file.
